Adolescents

[Lola 0]

Hi all - I'm having a little trouble with my Lurcher and he is my first lurcher so any advice would be great. He has mad moments where he will be very exuberant and start biting me, no malice at all, just a big game to him. The more firm I am with him the worse he gets, sees it as a challenge I guess.

I could cope with this if lasted half an hour or so but he goes on for 2 hours+. By the end of it I'm so stressed out. I try to isolate him by putting him in the garden and this seems to work well but most of his 'moments' occur at bedtime. I can't isolate him then because if he barks I get grief from my neighbour. Neither of my dogs are barkers but if they bark just once I get loud music blasting at 3am!

 

I assume it's his age as he is around 12 months. Are lurchers always this loopy? Am I to expect the 'wall of death' for years to come?

[christine88 1]

hey there, im in the same boat as u so thought id at least give it a try to help, i also have my very first lurcher and i must admit she has been very easy to get along with and yes i did have the same problem as u with the biting, i actually have 5 dogs and have had alot more in the past and most have been through the biting stage. firstly i would try basically when his teeth touch any part of you, make a strong loud no and turn ur back to him, repeat and he should get the message, once he has calmed down turn back and begin to praise, if he does it again repeat process. its hard work but does pay off. If this fails you could try now it sounds cruel and hurts abit but works, say he bites ur arm when he has his teeth over your arm hold the back of his head and gently push your arm into his mouth, dogs hate this so will imidiatly (in theory lol) try to remove ur arm from his mouth and he will think twice before doing it again. Im no expert but have had alot of dogs, quet a few rescues so have been needing alot of training and of course biting is a pretty serious thing, alot of rescues have this problem and these tricks have worked for me.

 

Good luck, let me know how u get on xxx

Edited March 3, 2009 by christine88

[riohog 5,712]

briefly the biting thing needs sorting game or not before that gets out of hand remember you are the pack leader not the pup!

 

 

food exersice high protean diet not enough exersice the dog will be going up the walltry reducing the protean intake or more exersice

 

 

 

the barking sound s like attension seeking good luck

[Lola 0]

hey there, im in the same boat as u so thought id at least give it a try to help, i also have my very first lurcher and i must admit she has been very easy to get along with and yes i did have the same problem as u with the biting, i actually have 5 dogs and have had alot more in the past and most have been through the biting stage. firstly i would try basically when his teeth touch any part of you, make a strong loud no and turn ur back to him, repeat and he should get the message, once he has calmed down turn back and begin to praise, if he does it again repeat process. its hard work but does pay off. If this fails you could try now it sounds cruel and hurts abit but works, say he bites ur arm when he has his teeth over your arm hold the back of his head and gently push your arm into his mouth, dogs hate this so will imidiatly (in theory lol) try to remove ur arm from his mouth and he will think twice before doing it again. Im no expert but have had alot of dogs, quet a few rescues so have been needing alot of training and of course biting is a pretty serious thing, alot of rescues have this problem and these tricks have worked for me.

 

Good luck, let me know how u get on xxx

 

Thanks christine - my sister does the pushing your arm in more thing as it's a parelli horsemanship thing. There is alot of similarites. I will keep this up as I think he will get the message. I did some clicker training with him at the dogs trust when I was visiting him and he is a quick learner. When he goes a bit 'loony' if I ask him to sit he immediately switches into a biddable lad, then he reverts straight back!

[Lola 0]

briefly the biting thing needs sorting game or not before that gets out of hand remember you are the pack leader not the pup!

 

 

food exersice high protean diet not enough exersice the dog will be going up the walltry reducing the protean intake or more exersice

 

 

 

the barking sound s like attension seeking good luck

 

 

I need to be the pack leader. Since my old mongrel died in Sept my shepherd has gone a bit naughty so I think I didn't fill the gap that Elsa left. Note to self....must by Cesars book

 

I walk my 2 for about 2 hours a day but this is in one hit around 2pm ish.... maybe I should break it into 2 walks? When I got him the dogs home wanted me to feed him large breed puppy food for another year but I disagreed with this (as did their behaviourist) so I switched him. He is now on Harringtons and it suits them both wonderfully. The protein is 21% so I think it's ok. He is putting on weight as he was quite thin.

 

I think your right about the barking. Thing is I get all anxious when it happens because of the neighbour... no one else hears them but this guy is a bully. I'm sure he picks up on this. Thanks riohog, which part of the midlands are you in?

[christine88 1]

Sounds about right, my youngest dog i have at the moment is the same age he is a labx, at least ur loony stages only last a couple of hours his is all day lol my lurcher and he are the best of friends and when he goes mad she just watches over him sitting by my side like a teachers pet lol my lurcher is 2 now and she is ALOT better behaved, maybe when he is having his loony sessions it might be another idea to try and focus his mind else where then, another idea for the biting would be spray training, i have used that with my shepherd it worked fantasticly with her but not my lurcher but it might work for you.

Edited March 3, 2009 by christine88

[riohog 5,712]

leicestershire good luck

[Lola 0]

Sounds about right, my youngest dog i have at the moment is the same age he is a labx, at least ur loony stages only last a couple of hours his is all day lol my lurcher and he are the best of friends and when he goes mad she just watches over him sitting by my side like a teachers pet lol my lurcher is 2 now and she is ALOT better behaved, maybe when he is having his loony sessions it might be another idea to try and focus his mind else where then, another idea for the biting would be spray training, i have used that with my shepherd it worked fantasticly with her but not my lurcher but it might work for you.

 

I do try training to distract him but he goes right back into it. I actually think that he has gotten worse this last week since my sisters saluki x has been muzzled on the walks. She just won't have a run with it on but she has to wear it after catching something she shouldn't, wouldn't mind but it was a local country park. When she runs she takes Casper with her and I think he needs this. He will spend the full 2 hours playing and searching in the bushes but he needs the run too.

 

Beautiful dogs btw

[christine88 1]

thanks, does he like tennis balls, have u tried using one of those throwing things, it knackers my lurcher out after an hour. but alas one dogs joy is anothers bordem my lab doesnt like tennis balls lol typical so we use the bike, take him alongside the bike for like an hour and a half, by the time u get home he is exhausted, they r soo nice when they are ASLEEP lol we do this with the lurcher too, keeps her lovely and fit

 

 

 

ahhh peace

[Lola 0]

thanks, does he like tennis balls, have u tried using one of those throwing things, it knackers my lurcher out after an hour. but alas one dogs joy is anothers bordem my lab doesnt like tennis balls lol typical so we use the bike, take him alongside the bike for like an hour and a half, by the time u get home he is exhausted, they r soo nice when they are ASLEEP lol we do this with the lurcher too, keeps her lovely and fit

 

 

 

ahhh peace

 

Might try the bike thing. He will chase a ball but then the competition is on with him and my GSD. She has a little possession issue right now, something else to work on! Problem is too, he has to be muzzled in case he chases a little dog, he has never learned not to yet. He can be around little dogs as long as they don't run or act like a victim - I know he has no aggression, just very immature and we think he had little or no socialisation with people or dogs. He's scared of people BIG time.

 

How do you reduce a photo to a size that you can upload onto your posts? I'll put some of mine on.

[riohog 5,712]

thanks, does he like tennis balls, have u tried using one of those throwing things, it knackers my lurcher out after an hour. but alas one dogs joy is anothers bordem my lab doesnt like tennis balls lol typical so we use the bike, take him alongside the bike for like an hour and a half, by the time u get home he is exhausted, they r soo nice when they are ASLEEP lol we do this with the lurcher too, keeps her lovely and fit

 

 

 

ahhh peace

 

Might try the bike thing. He will chase a ball but then the competition is on with him and my GSD. She has a little possession issue right now, something else to work on! Problem is too, he has to be muzzled in case he chases a little dog, he has never learned not to yet. He can be around little dogs as long as they don't run or act like a victim - I know he has no aggression, just very immature and we think he had little or no socialisation with people or dogs. He's scared of people BIG time.

 

How do you reduce a photo to a size that you can upload onto your posts? I'll put some of mine on.

go on to photobucket.com

[stoaty1 35]

Hi there. I am no expert but it sounds like the little one is trying it on. He gets excited and bounces round and nips and he the see's your corrections as encouagement. You mentioned that you get stressed out and anyone would understand that. Unfortunately a dog to maintain that high level of excitment for a couple of hours he must be getting a 'feed' of excitement from somewhere. Isolating him could work but you have to see it through and that will mean alot of noise to start with. He has learnt that barking will get him attention. Good or bad its still attention from you so he carries on. It also only gets around the other problem and does not teach the dog that the behaviour is not wanted and to chill out.

 

If you can when he first nips you yelp, stand up and ignore him. No eye contact, no voice - no contact of any sort. This may make him wonder what is going on so he will come after you. He may do one of two things. 1 - sit down and look at you. As soon as he does that in a very calm voice praise him. More likely he will demand your attention by pawing, biting, jumping up or barking. Once again no contact. This means turning your back on him and walking away. Dont look at him and dont correct him. Keep doing it. It will take time as he has to learn to go away or sit quietly. The secret is to ignore him. Not easy I know but keep the goal in mind. As soon as he goes away or sits down, even if only momenterally give him a little food treat or gentle praise. To start with it may take ages to get to this bit but keep at it and it will get easier.

 

The more exercise you can give him the easier it will be as you will take the edge of the hyper side. If you can mentally stimulate him as well it will then tire him out more than just physical exercise.

 

If this is stuff you already know please forgive me.

 

Good luck

Ian

[christine88 1]

ahh i see with the muzzle didnt realise lol another thing i like to do is take my dogs out seperately as well as together for some one on one training, i find it too hard to try and train them together all they want to do is play lol the photos i just right click on the photo i want and go to edit, it should come up in paint and then resave it on desktop and it makes it alot smaller, would love to see some piccys

[Lola 0]

Hi there. I am no expert but it sounds like the little one is trying it on. He gets excited and bounces round and nips and he the see's your corrections as encouagement. You mentioned that you get stressed out and anyone would understand that. Unfortunately a dog to maintain that high level of excitment for a couple of hours he must be getting a 'feed' of excitement from somewhere. Isolating him could work but you have to see it through and that will mean alot of noise to start with. He has learnt that barking will get him attention. Good or bad its still attention from you so he carries on. It also only gets around the other problem and does not teach the dog that the behaviour is not wanted and to chill out.

 

If you can when he first nips you yelp, stand up and ignore him. No eye contact, no voice - no contact of any sort. This may make him wonder what is going on so he will come after you. He may do one of two things. 1 - sit down and look at you. As soon as he does that in a very calm voice praise him. More likely he will demand your attention by pawing, biting, jumping up or barking. Once again no contact. This means turning your back on him and walking away. Dont look at him and dont correct him. Keep doing it. It will take time as he has to learn to go away or sit quietly. The secret is to ignore him. Not easy I know but keep the goal in mind. As soon as he goes away or sits down, even if only momenterally give him a little food treat or gentle praise. To start with it may take ages to get to this bit but keep at it and it will get easier.

 

The more exercise you can give him the easier it will be as you will take the edge of the hyper side. If you can mentally stimulate him as well it will then tire him out more than just physical exercise.

 

If this is stuff you already know please forgive me.

 

Good luck

Ian

 

This is an excellent reply, thank you. You may not be an expert but you have a good knowledge and a great way of getting things across. Many thanks! I'll keep you posted.

[Lola 0]

ahh i see with the muzzle didnt realise lol another thing i like to do is take my dogs out seperately as well as together for some one on one training, i find it too hard to try and train them together all they want to do is play lol the photos i just right click on the photo i want and go to edit, it should come up in paint and then resave it on desktop and it makes it alot smaller, would love to see some piccys

 

hope this works....